Fallout
by okaycomputer
Summary: A forbidden romance. A bitter break-up. A hesitant friendship. When she falls apart, who will be there to pick up the pieces? Things are going to get messy while you're dealing with the fallout.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is weird. Like, _really_ weird. But it's something that has been crawling around in my brain for awhile now, and I can't seem to get it out. So I'm going to try to write it out. Please don't stone me. **

**This is pretty short, because its kind of more of a preview than a first chapter. I might not continue it. Depends on the reception. **

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Closing the door of his apartment, Derek threw his keys on the tiny kitchen counter and tossed his jacket over the back of one of the odd, mismatched chairs that were neatly arranged around the small table that he and his roommate referred to as "the dining room." He strode into his room, quickly tossing off the black and green uniform polo he had to wear at work and pulling on an old band shirt he swiped from his father. Walking out into the narrow hallway, he walked the two feet to his roommate's door.

"Case?" he yelled through the door, rapping lightly with his knuckles. "I'm really jonesin' for some lo mein, do you think we could…" he trailed off as he opened her door, sticking his head inside.

Casey was scrunched up in a ball on her bed, wearing an old pair of jeans and an oversized SJTS sweatshirt that he'd seen her wear a lot since they graduated. Derek always teased her about it, but she never really responded.

At first he thought she was asleep, because she was so still, but as he moved to take the wad of tissues she had clenched in her right fist, he noticed her eyes were open, staring blankly at the comforter.

"Hey…Mission Control to Space Case. Everything alright up there?" he asked teasingly, but gently.

When she still didn't respond, he ran a hand through his eternally-messy hair and tried not to sigh. Matured though he might be, at 20 years old, he still wasn't very good at dealing with this kind of thing.

"_Well, at least she isn't crying,_" he thought to himself. There were few things in this world he hated more than seeing Casey McDonald cry. Uh, well, anyone really. He just said Casey because she's right in front of him. Yep, that's it.

"Hey, come on Spacey, what's wrong," he asked, sitting on the edge of her bed and tucking back a stray strand of her soft hair.

That's when the waterworks starter. Or restarted, from the looks of things.

"Spoke too soon," he muttered under his breath. Casey continued to sob, pressing her face into the comforter.

For a moment, Derek sat frozen on his little corner of bed, wracking his mind to figure out what might possibly be the source of his step-sister's obvious distress. He came up empty.

While Casey and him actually got along these days (sort of), and even though they still shared a living space (not their idea), they were far from best friends, and despite the occasional night in together, and smattering of shared acquaintances, and the whole "sharing a family" thing, they had very little to do with each others' lives.

Hesitantly, he scooted closer to the sniveling, snotty, salty ball of rough fabric and soft flesh that used to be his stepsister. Awkwardly, he put a hand on her back, tracing it slowly up and down the rough bumps of her spine.

"Talk to me, Case," he said in what he hoped was a sincere and encouraging voice.

She mumbled something into her comforter that sounded, to him, kind of like "free dumplings." He silently prayed Casey hadn't heard his stomach growling, and tried to will away the mouth-watering image of lo mein and beef and broccoli and dumplings and pork fried rice and…

Casey. Right.

"What was that, Princess?" The nickname had turned into more of a term of endearment than an insult over the years.

"He. Dumped. Me," she choked out, between sniffling gasps. Then her face went back into the comforter. Derek briefly wondered if it was possible to die from blanket inhalation.

Then his mind went down a different path. He honestly hadn't even really known Casey was seeing someone. Sure, he was aware she went out on dates, but it's not like he ever met the guys. Or guy, apparently. Yeah, Casey tended to be a drama queen, but she wasn't _that_ bad. He figured if she was this upset, it had to have been pretty serious.

"Who? I'll pound him for ya," he said in a mock serious tone. In response, Casey barked out a strange sound that might have been a laugh—or a sob. Probably a combination of the two. She didn't say anything, but she seemed to calm down a little bit when Derek tried to talk to her.

"Is it someone I know?" he asked, feeling for all the world like they were 18 again, playing twenty questions on the drive from school back to London.

Biting her lip, Casey moved her head up and down in a motion that Derek could only assume meant yes.

"Is it…Jordan?" he asked, naming the first good looking guy he could think of that they both knew.

"No," came her muffled reply.

"Marc?"

"No."

"Um…that one guy you used to talk to all the time in psych last semester? That always tried to get me to join the intramural basketball team?"

"Seth?"

"Yeah, that one."

"No."

Derek was stumped. He continued to wrack his mind, trying to think who else it could possibly be.

In a slow, arthritic motion, Casey pulled herself into a sitting position. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly.

"Its Paul," she said so quietly he barely heard.

"Paul?" Derek questioned. "That nerdy redhead in our Calc study group?"

She shook her head.

"No," she said softly. "From high school."

Derek raised an eyebrow. "Gay Paul? The president of the drama club?"

Casey blew out a frustrated breath. "Damnit Derek, no. THE Paul."

An uncomfortable silence fell over the tiny room. Derek stared at her incredulously. After a long minute, he spoke.

"Paul?" he squeaked out, sounding eerily reminiscent of Edwin when he was going through puberty. "Like…Paul Greebie? The _guidance counselor_ Paul!?" He must be mistaken. There must be some other Paul.

Casey said nothing, just stared intently at her fingers.

Her silence spoke volumes more than any words could.

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**Heh. Yeah. Well?**

**Also, I know Derek at least is pretty out of character. But, maturity, changes, etc etc**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks so much for the all the wonderful reviews! I'm glad you guys want me to continue. I know it is kind of a creepy thing to think of, but I think that's part of the appeal...for me anyway. Anyway this took longer than I wanted it to, but writing Paul is way harder than I thought it would be. Plus the exact details of the how were evading me. If this goes anything like I'm planning (which is no guarantee), this will be a decently long fic. Well, without further ado, here's chapter two!**

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He was floored. Absolutely floored. Derek felt like Ryan the Fridge had just fell from the sky and pancaked him to the ground. Opening his mouth to say something, he found himself suddenly parched. He closed his mouth, tried to moisten it with his own spit. Opened it again. All that came out was a slight wheeze.

Casey just continued to stare at her hands.

Finally Derek managed to find his voice. "What the fuck?" he sputtered, still incredulous.

Casey's eyes started watering again. "I knew I shouldn't have told you," she said in a small voice.

"Shut up Case, I'm not judging you or anything, I'm just kind of blown. Don't you dare start crying again. I can't take twice in one day," Derek scolded lightly, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look him in the eyes. Hoping she could pick up on the caring in them. She just nodded mutely, a large chunk of brown hair falling into her eyes. She didn't bother to brush it back, and Derek just let go of her.

They sat in silence for a long time. After at least ten minutes, Derek got up and strode out of the room without a word. Casey held her breath, terrified he was going to leave, or call her parents, or do SOMETHING drastic and terrible. She released her breath when she heard the familiar (yet slightly awkward) sound of Derek taking a leak. Habitually, she listened for the sounds of the flush, of the running water in the sink. Moments later, he appeared in the door frame.

"Here's the deal Princess. I want you to tell me every detail of this sordid love affair," he pretended not to notice as she winced, "but I'm starving. And we both know I can't concentrate on an empty stomach. So I'm going to order us some Chinese, my treat, and you're going to tell me _everything_," he told her sternly but with a smile.

Casey looked hesitant, but after a moment's consideration, she nodded.

"Now, let's get you out of that sweatshirt," he continued. Suddenly, he had new suspicions about the origin of said garment, and he didn't like it.

His stepsister stood up shakily, and looked around her room with a frown. After a moment, she looked back at Derek with a helpless expression.

She mumbled something that Derek didn't quite hear, so he stepped into the room and gestured for her to speak up.

"I don't want to wear any of my clothes," she said softly, almost embarrassed, refusing to meet his eyes.

With considerable effort, Derek managed not to make any retorts to that comment, and simply held up a finger before disappearing out the door and into his own room. He reappeared a moment later in what he hoped was something that wouldn't reminder her of…him. He couldn't think his name just yet. Not in that context.

Tossing her his practice jersey, he jerked his head towards the hallway, and walked out to the living room, leaving her to change.

He didn't need to ask what she wanted. Their order to the Chinese place never changed. Having taken care of that, he put his phone back into his pants pocket and parked himself on the couch.

Something like twenty minutes later, Casey padded softly into the living area of their apartment. She still had on the jeans, but Derek couldn't help but smile at the way his big jersey looked on her slim frame. Her face was washed and shiny, hair brushed and pulled back into a purposely-messy bun. Returning Derek's smile with a watery one of her own, she curled up at the other end of the couch from him, hugging her knees to her chest.

Derek had been half-heartedly watching television, but as soon as Casey sat down beside him he switched it off. Turning so his back rested against the armrest, he studied his stepsister.

"When did it start," he finally asked in a strained voice, half afraid of the answer.

"Junior year," she said meekly, but without hesitation.

Derek's eyebrows shot up.

"No! I mean, not. Not like that. We didn't—no," she breathed out hurriedly, tripping over her words as she tried to get them out. She sucked in a lungful of air to steady herself before continuing.

"It all started, believe it or not, with that stupid list thing Truman did when he first got to Thompson…

_Casey flopped down on the utilitarian grey couch in Paul's office and let out a sigh. Paul looked like he was about to fall out of his chair in shock when she didn't immediately launch into a tirade against Derek, or something similar. _

"_Something bothering you, Casey?" he asked, wondering what exactly could have his most frequent visitor so down. _

"_It's just…that stupid six and a half is still bothering me and I can't stand it. I've never felt this insecure about my looks before, and it's all because of some stupid new guy! I mean sure, he's cute, but ugh! I don't know. I guess I just don't get it. I mean…aren't I pretty?" she blurted, starting slowly but quickly building up into her usual near-hysterical stream of consciousness. It ended abruptly and Paul just blinked, momentarily stunned. _

"_You're beautiful, Casey," he murmured suddenly, and his eyes widened simultaneously with hers. Had he really just said that out loud? _

_Paul gulped, tugging uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt. _

"_Um, you're a wonderful young woman Casey, don't let some dumb high school boy get you down. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another appointment soon," he said in one breath._

_Still wide-eyed, Casey nodded and stood up, shuffling awkwardly out the door. _

_That night, she couldn't get Paul out of her head. The way he had looked at her when he said she was beautiful…she knew should have found it creepy, it was PAUL for chrissakes, but for some reason, she didn't. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep, her mind filled with images of her guidance counselor._

_At first, Casey wasn't sure if she was going to go back to see Paul. But she knew she was going to have to see him again at some point, so coming to the conclusion that it would be better to face any awkwardness now rather than later, she found herself walking briskly towards his office during lunch the next day. Making a quick detour to the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror checking her hair and smoothing her skirt. Looking herself in the eyes, she paused, wondering what exactly she was doing. Since when did she care what she looked like when she went to see Paul? Shaking her head at herself slightly, she pushed back into the crowded hallway, and continued on her way to see Paul. _

_Things went back to normal after that…except for the weird undercurrent of flirting that was now often present in their sessions. Casey didn't think anything of it, until she started turning down dates from classmates for no good reason. _

_But still. Nothing had changed. Not _really_ anyways._

A sharp knock on the door broke the spellbinding tranquility of Casey's storytelling. Derek jumped up off the couch, grabbing a stack of bills off the kitchen counter as he passed it. Opening the door, he quickly traded the money for the plastic bag holding the brown paper bag, stacked full of small white cartons and radiating heat. He deposited the bag on the small coffee table in front of the couch, and then looped back to the kitchen to grab some utensils, a glass of milk for Casey, and a Coke for himself. At the last second he also yanked a length of paper towels off the roll, knowing how woefully inadequate the flimsy paper napkins included with the food were. And how much Casey hated them.

Settling back on the couch, Casey dug into her vegetable fried rice like she hadn't eaten in years. Derek smiled, and proceeded to impale a dumpling on one of his chopsticks.

"You know that's not how you're supposed to use that, right?" Casey asked with a smile, as she used a finger to rescue a grain of rice that was marooned at the corner of her mouth.

"So?" he replied with a shrug, stabbing another dumpling and dunking it in some sauce before shoving the whole thing into his mouth.

"Der-ek!" she cried, trying in vain to suppress a laugh. "You're getting sauce all over the table," she chided lightly. Grabbing a napkin to wipe up the mess, she was pleasantly surprised when Derek beat her to the task. With a grin, she lifted up the tiny sauce pot and slid her unsoiled napkin under it.

"There," she said, pleased with herself. "To guard from future messes."

Derek chuckled jovially, shaking his head. Good old Casey.

Presently, they settled into a comfortable quiet, focusing solely on eating. After some time though, Casey broke the silence.

"After graduation," was all she said.

Derek just looked up, cocking his head to the side in a silent question.

"Nothing else really happened until after graduation," she elaborated.

Ah. Silently, he waited for her to continue.

"It was my last visit to Paul before the end of school…

_Casey sat quietly on the couch, while Paul just waited for her to speak. It was eerily reminiscent of the meeting last year, when this whole weird thing between them had started. Not that there was anything between them. _

"_I wish I knew a more adequate word than 'thanks,'" she said suddenly, nervously pulling at a strand of her hair. "You've been so wonderful these past three years, I don't know how I would have made it through all this without you. I probably would have gone completely insane," she finished, laughing lightly on the last sentence. _

_Paul smiled warmly. "Just doing my job, Casey," he said, though his tone implied something different. Casey wasn't quite sure what that something was, but the butterflies in her stomach indicated she liked it. _

"_Listen, I know I'm not supposed to say things like this, but you've really been one of my favorite students over the years Casey," he continued, and Casey tried not to blush. Pulling out a piece of paper, he started scribbling something down on it. "I really hope you'll keep in touch with me, Casey. I'm giving you my personal email address. Maybe we could become pen pals of sorts?" he smiled. "I mean I've gotten so used to it, I don't know how I'll get through a week without hearing about Derek's latest antics," he added with a good-natured laugh. _

_Casey grinned, hoping she didn't look too giddy at the prospect. Paul stood up and walked around the desk to give her the paper and a handshake, but the pretty brunette surprised them both when she pulled him into a quick, warm hug. Smiling shyly, she took the paper and headed towards the door. _

"_See you at graduation," she called over her shoulder, shooting him a dazzling smile before closing the solid wooden door behind her._

_They immediately struck up an easy, comfortable email correspondence. Taking their relationship out of the dividing "student" and "teacher" boundaries, they found they could slip easily into a warm friendship. _

_About a month before she was set to leave for university, she got an email from Paul that worried her. He sounded…off, sad. He mentioned something at the end of the email about separating from his wife. _

_Said he was taking it hard. Casey's stomach clenched a little at the mention of his wife, but she quickly shook it off._

_Taking a deep breath, she began typing a reply, in which she expressed sympathy for his situation. Gathering up her courage, she added an offer to meet for coffee at a lesser-known local café on the outskirts of London. Quickly she hit the send button, before she could change her mind._

_When she got his reply the next day, saying to name the time and he'd be there, she couldn't stop smiling. _

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**So yes. I hope the style isn't too awkward...I wasn't sure about how the flashbacks were structured. Also, I wasn't sure about Paul's personal life...I thought I remembered him saying in one episode something about a wife and kids. But I might have just imagined that. This chapter definitely wasn't my best work though, sorry. I'm done with the awkward part though. **

**Also, just as a note, I hope you don't find the email correspondence thing THAT unusual. I myself had a teacher in high school whom I had an email correspondence with after he left the school before my senior year. We're good friends now.**

**Thanks again for all the great reviews! You all are the best.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh my gosh, I am sooooo sorry this is so late in coming. I don't really have a legitimate excuse, besides some bad writer's block and some computer complications. This chapter definitely isn't my favorite, but I don't think its completely horrible. Do feel free to tell me otherwise though.**

**Still don't own it. Obviously. **

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Suddenly Derek's cell phone blared the refrain of 3OH!3's "Don't Trust Me." The noise startled him, and he nearly fell off the couch with surprise. Casey smothered a laugh as Derek hopped over to the counter to answer the phone. Absentmindedly picking at a frayed hole in the leg of her jeans, Casey patiently waited for Derek to finish his phone call. A few minutes later, he joined her back on the worn little couch.

"Who was it?" she asked, half out of curiosity and half out of an attempt to stall.

"Just someone from work," Derek dismissed. "So, where were we?"

Casey sighed. There really was no getting out of this. "It was a week later when we finally met up…

_Casey sat nervously in the tiny coffee house, clutching her latte between her hands like it was her life source. She tried to focus on the warming sensation she felt on her hands, rather than the tumultuous fluttering in her stomach. "This is ridiculous," she thought to herself. "It's just Paul." But no matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn't stop from anxiously looking up each time the little bell on the door dinged. _

_It was now almost five minutes past their agreed meeting time, and Casey felt a growing ball of dread in her abdomen. Had he decided not to come? Had something happened to him? She could feel herself on the verge of an epic Casey Freak Out, and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. _

_While she was doing this, she didn't hear the latest ding of the bell, and so was started when someone suddenly slid into the chair across the tiny table from her. _

_Paul smiled shyly, "sorry I'm late," he said. "Punctuality is actually not one of my strong points, and it took a little longer to get here than I had figured." _

_Suddenly unable to speak (she smiled wryly to herself at the thought of how Derek would react to such an event), Casey just smiled. Paul made a gesture towards the counter, indicating he was going to get a drink, and she just nodded. As soon as he walked away, the brunette let out a shaky breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. Pulling out her cell phone for something to do, she fiddled with the buttons for a moment. She turned the volume off, then changed her mind and turned it back up. She moved to put it back in her purse but then at the last second, changed it to vibrate. Satisfied, she dropped it back into the abyss of her bag right as Paul returned, steaming paper cup in hand. _

"_Expecting a call?" he asked politely, conversationally._

"_Huh? Oh, no, just uh, checking the time," she replied, willing herself not to blush as she stuttered over her words. Paul just smiled._

_She was surprised at how quickly and easily they fell into conversation. It was so much like back in high school, and yet so very different. They laughed over Derek's cluelessness at the coming challenges of college ("Anthropology? What the hell is that, like the study of ants?"), and mused over the reasons for Principle Lassiter's sudden departure from the school (Paul heard he was offered a job at an elementary school at a nearby district and jumped on it like a starved wolf on a wounded antelope). As it turned out, the subject of Paul's rocky marital status didn't come up at all, something that Casey secretly found herself glad about. _

_Nearly two and a half hours had passed before they even realized the time. "Yikes, I really need to get going," Casey said apologetically, rising awkwardly from her chair. Paul jumped up too, grabbing both of their long-empty cups to throw away._

"_I should be too, I have a lot to do before school starts up again," he replied._

_They walked over to the trash can together, and Casey held open the flap on the garbage can while he threw away the cups. At the door, Paul returned the favor, holding open the door as Casey passed through, and then they paused awkwardly outside. _

"_Um, so, maybe we could do this again some time?" Paul asked, sounding more like an awkward teenager than a professional adult._

_Casey couldn't keep the grin off of her face as she nodded slightly. "I'd like that," she said softly. _

_A few silent heartbeats passed, and Casey stuck out her hand for a handshake goodbye. Paul looked at the appendage strangely for a moment, and then pulled Casey into a quick gentle hug. As he released her, they both laughed nervously at the parallel to that last day at school. _

_Casey fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she looked at the ground, suddenly shy. "Well, u, bye," she said hurriedly. _

"_Bye," was Paul's soft reply. The tone of his voice caught her off guard, and she looked up and found herself caught in the warmth of his rich brown eyes. They held the gaze for a moment, before she blushed and turned away, hurrying off to her car._

Casey paused in her storytelling to finish off the last of her milk. Derek stared thoughtfully at her, watching the way her delicate white throat pulsed with the movement of swallowing. The redness in her face from crying was starting to fade, and he was momentarily struck with how beautiful she was. It would be a lie to say this was the first time he had noticed how gorgeous his stepsister was, but it wasn't exactly something he considered a big deal. He considered the fact that Casey was beautiful exactly that: a fact. One of those undeniable truths of life.

But something was different today. Seeing her so vulnerable…it brought out something in Derek, something that he tried to keep buried inside. He gulped nervously, shaking himself out of his reverie, and made a move to start cleaning up the mess they had made of their dinner. Casey set down her now-empty milk glass and stared at him incredulously. She opened her mouth to say something, but instead decided it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth and silently got up to help him.

A few minutes later, with the few dishes washed and the empty boxes in the trash, Derek put the leftovers in the fridge and pulled out a beer. Before closing the door he turned to Casey, and held up the bottle in a silent question.

"Yeah, why not," she said with a sigh, after a moment's contemplation. Wordlessly, Derek handed her the beer in his hand and grabbed another one for himself. Closing the door, he leaned up against the counter, absentmindedly drawing in the condensation on the side of the glass bottle. Across the kitchen from him, Casey pulled a bottle opened out of a drawer and quickly popped the top off her beer. Dropping the bottle cap on the counter behind her, she mimicked Derek's position and tossed him the opener. She watched as he repeated the action, putting her mouth over the rim of the bottle but not drinking. Derek raised his own bottle to his lips, about to take a sip when he noticed Casey hadn't done so yet. Instead of taking a drink, he held his bottle out into the space between them.

"Cheers," he said simply.

Casey raised a questioning eyebrow at him, but wordlessly tapped her bottle against his. There was, strangely, something immensely satisfying about that 'clink.' Simultaneously, they both took a long draw from their bottles.

Derek let out a satisfied "ahhh," while Casey set her bottle down on the counter and hopped onto the counter, letting her legs hang down over the lower cabinets. Derek looked at her expectantly, and she didn't need to ask why. Five years of living with someone leaves little need for words sometimes.

"So meeting for coffee somehow became a weekly thing, and it continued even once we started school…

_It was about a month after starting university, and Casey and Paul were having their weekly get together. They occasionally missed a week, and they didn't always go for coffee necessarily, but they kept up with it almost religiously. On this particular day, they were strolling around downtown Toronto, drinking their coffee as they walked. Casey was chattering on animatedly about a project she was doing in her Intro to Mass Communications class, and Paul was listening quietly. _

"_But enough about me, what's new with you?" she finally said, having realized just how quiet Paul was being. _

"_Well, um," Paul let out a long slow breath, "Theresa served me the divorce papers yesterday," he said softly. _

_Casey stopped dead in her tracks, and after a beat Paul too stopped and faced her. _

"_Oh my gosh, Paul, I am so sorry," she said gently, reaching out and clasping both of her hands around one of his in a comforting gesture. After a silent moment, he pulled his hand out and moved it to her cheek. _

"_Casey…" he breathed, and she stood frozen, her heart racing at his touch, at his words. And then, like something out of a dream, he leaned forward and gently captured her lips with his. _

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**So yeah. Hopefully there won't be anymore crazy delays like that...hopefully people still want to read this.**

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	4. Chapter 4

**Woo quick update!**

**Yadda yadda, not mine**

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_For one breathless minute, Casey thought for sure the world had been jolted off its axis and was now reeling wildly through space. Her eyes had fluttered closed almost immediately, and she lost herself completely in the moment. _

_But then Paul jerked away sharply, and it was over. They shared a long, silent stare before he sputtered back to life. _

"_I'm sorry, I shouldn't, that, I, uh…" he trailed off helplessly as Casey's soft hand alighted on his chest, right over his heart. _

"_Don't worry about it," she breathed softly, leaning in and softly pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. Pulling back, she smiled at him gently before turning to walk back towards campus. "See you next week," she called over her shoulder with a sly grin. _

_From there it was a short skid down a slippery slope to a full-on relationship. Paul ended up leaving his job at Sir Thompson and getting an apartment in Mississauga, working as a social worker. _

_It took Casey a lot of effort not to fall into her usual obnoxious relationship patterns (monthiversaries, anyone?), but she managed to do a pretty good job. She knew that she had to be more mature about dating than she had been in high school, not just because she was in college now, but because Paul was so much older and more…experienced. _

_Old habits die hard, though, and so that is how they found themselves out to dinner at a fancy restaurant in downtown Toronto on what she considered their anniversary—that is to say, it had been exactly one year since that first breathtaking kiss. _

_The soft lighting made Casey appear as though she was glowing, and she smiled beatifically at Paul as he held her hand across the table. She daintily licked a smudge of the key lime pie they were sharing off her lip, and then looked Paul right in the eyes, suddenly nervous._

"_I, uh, I made a reservation at the InterContinental, down on Bloor Street? If you didn't want to drive back so late," she stammered uncertainly, a blush of color rising to her cheeks. She was living with Derek by now, so staying at her apartment wasn't an option. _

_Paul said nothing, simply looked at her seriously. This was more than just an offer of a place to stay. Although it had been a year, and although it had been incredibly difficult for him, he had respected Casey's wishes when she said she wasn't ready to sleep with him. he was a gentleman, and he said he wasn't going to pressure her. And he hadn't. But Casey had decided a few weeks ago that she was ready. _

"_Are you sure?" he asked softly, after a long minute of silence. _

_She nodded, more confident now, and broke out into a contagious grin. _

_Just then, the waiter brought over the check. Talk about impeccable timing. _

_Even though there was nothing illegal about their relationship, the air of scandal was still heavily present, and Casey felt nearly giddy on the fumes of it as they checked into the gorgeous hotel. He kissed her in the elevator with a kind of breathless urgency, and she giggled as she pulled him closer by means of his necktie and slid a cool hand under his shirt. They tumbled in the door like something out of a movie, and Casey's heart pounded in her throat as he unzipped her dress. Speechless with anticipation and want, she didn't even laugh as he fumbled a little with the clasp on her bra, never breaking the heated kiss._

"Uhm, Casey?" Derek interrupted in an oddly strained voice.

She looked at her stepbrother in surprise, as if she almost had forgotten he was there. His face was oddly contorted in a pained expression.

"I don't, ah, really need to hear about this part…" he said uncomfortably.

Casey's eyes widened more than he thought was possible for a human being, and she threw a hand over her mouth as a hot blush splashed itself across her cheeks.

"Oh God. Sorry Derek, I just got carried away. It was such an amazing night…" she sighed dreamily. Quickly though she remembered herself, or rather, Derek."Right, sorry. I'm sure you can uh imagine the rest."

Derek winced.

"Not! Not that, uh, you'd want to. Or, whatever," she stuttered, subconsciously trying to crawl inside the jersey she was wearing.

"Yeah. Um. Its, uh, sort of getting late. Maybe we should, you know, continue this tomorrow or something," he replied lamely.

"Yes! Yes. Good idea," she responded, a little too enthusiastically. Glancing at the clock on the DVD player, she grinned brightly. "Hey! Law and Order should be on, want to watch?"

"Is it the one about the kinky shit, the one with the big dude, or the really boring one?" he asked warily.

"The big dude," Casey said smartly, settling back into the couch and reaching for the remote.

Derek smiled genuinely. "Awesome. That guy's the man." Satisfied, he situated himself more comfortably on the couch, and the two stepsiblings quickly drifted into a television coma.

An obnoxious, thumping bass beat pulled Derek slowly out of unconsciousness. With a groan, he lolled his head from side to side, trying to get rid of the painful kink he developed. In the process, he cracked his neck with a satisfying 'pop,' and with it came more clarity at his surroundings. He had apparently passed out on the couch, along with Casey, who was now making soft snoring noises and drooling slightly on his leg. The TV was still on, and the annoying sound that had woken him was the overly upbeat music being played in the background of the current infomerical. Some stupid exercise gimmicky thing. It was still dark outside, and even with the lights left on in the living room (Lizzie would have a fit), the television screen still managed to cast a strange, bluish light on himself and Casey.

He looked down at her for a moment, almost transfixed by the odd light dancing across her face.

Here was his nemesis, harmless and almost vulnerable in sleep. He was tempted, in his groggy, half-asleep state, to gently cup his hand around the smooth curve of her cheek. As soon as he had the thought, however, she shifted slightly in her sleep, jolting him out of the trance. Her breathing changed slightly, and she made a sound that sounded exactly like a baby pig—or what he imagined one would sound like, as he had never actually been around a baby pig (unless you count Edwin). Derek tried to stifle his laugh, not wanting to wake her up, but failed. It burbled out of him at an unsettlingly loud volume.

Casey stirred, and again her breathing changed. She wasn't really awake, but she was no longer sound asleep either. Looking at the clock for the first time, Derek decided it would be best for them to go back to their beds and get in a few more hours of sleep.

"Hey Case," he said softly, "time to go to bed."

"Mmmmhm," she replied incoherently, and snuggled herself deeper into Derek's lap and the folds of the couch.

With a sigh, Derek realized she wasn't going to go on her own, and gently scooped her up and carried her to her room. He set her down awkwardly, as he tried to pull down the covers and get her under them. Finally he succeeded, and she instantly curled up on her side like a little pill bug. She reminded him so powerfully of Marti in that moment, that before he even realized what he was doing, he leaned down and smoothed her hair, planting a kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight, Casey," he whispered into her hair, inhaling the intoxicating vanilla smell.

"G'night," she murmured dreamily, before fading back into the deep shadows of sleep.

He lingered in her doorway for a silent moment, watching her small body rise and fall with each breath. Then, with a trace of smile, he left, flopping down on his own messy bed and drifting back into dreamland.

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**I obviously do not live in Canada, so I apologize to any Canadians who may be like 'wtf.' Forgive me, for I am just a lowly American, and am doing my best.**

**This was initially going to end right after they turned on Law and Order, but then the other scene just came to me and I couldnt pass it up.**

**I apologize if anything seems rushed, I didn't think it necessary to drag you through the first year of Casey and Paul's courtship. Slash, its weird for me to write a lot of it because really at heart I'm a hardcore Dasey shipper. But there is still lots more to come of the Casey and Paul story. Dramarama ahead. Hehehe.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ohhhh my gosh. I could rattle off all the excuses I have for this being so incredibly late, but I'll spare you guys. Let me just suffice with I'm super sorry and I'll try not to let it happen again. Also, I would just like to note that I had this finished the other day, but then FF decided to be a jerk and break. Apparently the fanfiction gods are angry at me. **

**I understand its been incredibly long so you might not even remember what this story is about. I'll give a really really brief recap, but honestly, the previous four chapters arent all that long and I dont think it would be terribly hard to go back and re-read, or at least skim. But I'm a nice author so here's a quick refresher:**

**_Derek and Casey are about twenty years old, attending the same college, and sharing an apartment at the request of their parents. They aren't quite as antagonistic towards each other as they once were, but they are not the best of friends either. Mostly they just leave one another alone. One day, Derek returns home from work to find Casey lying on her bed, obviously distraught. Being the somewhat nice guy he is now, he gets her to tell him what's wrong. Casey, somewhat reluctantly at first, regales him with the tale of her secret relationship with Paul the guidance counselor, and the breakup that is the cause of her current state. Last chapter ended with the two falling asleep on the couch while watching television, having decided to take a break from the story telling after Casey got to the part where her and Paul first slept together. Derek woke up in the wee hours of the morning and carried Casey back to bed, before collapsing in his own bed._**

**Dont own it. Obv.  
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Derek awoke to the harsh glare of morning sunlight and the acrid smell of burning bacon. Blinking away the haze of sleep, he realized that smell was Not Good and needed to be Dealt With Immediately. He rolled over and out of bed, his feet catching the ground beneath him just before he could tumble to the floor. He was still in his clothes from yesterday, he noticed as he stumbled into the hallway. Oh well.

Upon reaching the kitchen, all he could see was thick, oily smoke billowing from the pan atop the stove. He heard small snurffly noises and realized Casey must be around here somewhere, but before he could do anything about it, the smoke detector began to go off, the shrill beeping echoing horridly throughout the apartment.

"Shit," Derek muttered to himself, looking around for something to fan the smoke with. Failing to immediately spot anything of use, he whipped off his rumpled shirt and began to use that. After about a minute, he realized he was getting nowhere as long as the bacon was still sitting on the stove burning. Throwing the shirt over the back of one of the chairs at the tiny kitchen table, he vaulted over the breakfast bar and into the kitchen, where he almost stepped on his step-sister, who was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and sobbing pitifully. He faltered for a moment, instinctually wanting to comfort her (don't laugh, he _was_ human after all), but realizing he couldn't just yet. Carefully stepping around her, he reached over to the stove and turned off the flame, and pressed the button on the microwave that turned on the fan.

All those years of George attempting to cook had made him a pro at such situations.

With the root of the problem addressed, he returned to the living room and resumed fanning the smoke detector with his shirt. Very shortly it ceased its shrieking, and then Derek promptly dropped his shirt and headed into the kitchen to address the other problem: the burnt bacon. Just kidding (kind of).

Casey really hadn't moved at all during this entire ordeal. She was still wearing his practice jersey, but had replaced the jeans with some impossibly tiny plaid shorts, barely peeking out from beneath the hem of his jersey. Her hair was pulled back in a low, loose pony tail but large pieces were falling out all over the place. Her nose was red and shiny and a little snotty (ew) and her blue eyes were shining even more brightly because of the tears. She looked incredibly unattractive and yet…she was still so pretty. He was momentarily baffled, and then shook his head like a small dog, to clear out such thoughts. He squatted down in front of her, and then leaned back on his heels until his back hit the cool oven door and he slid slowly down, letting his legs unfold next to her.

Rather than speaking, he just watched her quietly and waited for the crying to stop. And eventually it slowed and then ceased, and then after a few silent minutes of Casey staring at the floor and Derek staring at Casey, she finally spoke.

"It wouldn't be so bad, except for…"she began in a small voice, eyes still fixed on the floor. "Well," she looked up at him, "you remember how right before he kissed me for the first time, he told me his wife had just served him the divorce papers?"

Derek nodded slowly.

"Well," Casey said again, this time with a bitter laugh. "He neglected to tell me one minor detail…

"_You're WHAT?!" Casey shrieked, the high-pitched noise echoing ominously off the Spartan walls of Paul's plain little apartment in Mississauga. The older man, who had been coiled around Casey's naked body in a loving, post-coitus embrace, was now standing awkwardly in the doorframe of the bathroom, a sheet clutched hastily around his waist. He ran a hand uneasily over his head, and she was briefly, bizarrely reminded of Derek and how he always did the same gesture when he found himself in an uncomfortable situation. As quickly as the thought had presented itself, however, it danced its way right back out of her head, and she was once again focused on her outrage at the man before her, the man she loved. _

"_Ah, Case, maybe we can talk about this a little later, when you aren't so…emotional," he suggested, trying to keep his tone gentle and soothing. No sooner had the words left his mouth then one of his loafers came flying towards him, hitting the wall to his right with an unsettlingly loud 'thump' and falling unceremoniously to the ground. _

"_I can emotional if I damn want, considering my _boyfriend_ just told me that he's still married!" Casey screamed in reply, again lobbing a projectile at him—this time, a plastic cup that had been sitting on the bedside table. It, too, missed, though its impact with the wall left a small dent. Lucky for Paul, Casey may have had a strong arm, but she had terrible aim. "And don't call me Case," she added, this time in a low growl as she hopped into her jeans. She tripped a little, and almost fell over before finally managing to get both legs through. It was a rather comical sight, and Paul would have laughed had the situation been slightly different. As it was, he simply pressed his mouth into a thin line, and watched as she continued to dress, muttering things under her breath furiously. _

_After a few painfully long minutes of this, she was finally dressed. She moved into the living room of the apartment, gathering her things and shoving them into her bag. Paul trailed after her, now standing in the doorframe to the bedroom, watching silently. He couldn't think of anything to say, and decided to just let her ride out her anger. It was better this way, he knew. Once she had calmed down, then they could talk rationally. He was still naked, but for the sheet, and absently wondered if he could at least pull some pants on, but truthfully he was afraid to turn his back on Casey for a minute, and so resigned himself to his present state of undress for a little while longer. _

_Once Casey was sure she had all of her things, she stopped dashing around furiously, and at last looked up at Paul. Her gaze was one of molten fury, but her eyes still swam with tears threatening to spill. She blinked hard once, twice, and then spoke. "Don't call me until you sign those fucking divorce papers," she told him simply, voice heavy with venom. He winced, both at her unusual use of foul language, and at the unspoken accusation. Closing his eyes, he swallowed slowly, and did not open them again until he heard the angry slam of the front door. _

_Casey pounded furiously down the stairs, until finally reaching the small parking lot. She ground to an abrupt halt, suddenly remembering that Paul had picked her up from Toronto after a conference he had been attending, and drove her down here with him. She had no way to get home. Cursing her stupidity, she kicked at a stray stone, watching it skittering across the pavement as she tried to figure out how to get back to school. The door to the building swung open, and Casey turned at the sound, half-hoping Paul had come after her. But it was just the old lady who lived on the second floor, and kept more cats than the lease agreement permitted. Casey sighed, realizing she was going to have to figure this one out herself, and set off for the two-mile walk to the bus stop._

"Why didn't you call and ask me to pick you up?" Derek interrupted suddenly. Casey leveled her gaze at him, simply staring for a moment before speaking. "Like you really would have driven all the way out to Mississauga at 11:30 on a Sunday morning, to pick my sorry butt up, without any real explanation," she deadpanned. Derek pursed his lips for a moment, considering this. "Hmm," he said. "Fair point. Sorry," he shrugged sheepishly. Casey just rolled her eyes.

_After what seemed like days, but was in fact only a few hours, Casey had finally made it back to campus, tired and angry. She dragged herself up to the apartment, and quickly collapsed into her bed, not even bothering to finish the homework she had due for Monday. _

Derek raised his eyebrows, astonished, and opened his mouth to make a smart remark. But Casey glared menacingly at him, and he snapped his mouth closed without uttering a single syllable.

_A few days passed, and Casey was miserable, but managed to muddle through and still appear halfway normal. Finally, on Wednesday, Paul called her. He insisted that he didn't want to talk on the phone, that he wanted to see her, and finally they agreed to meet for coffee on Saturday, at their usual little coffee shop. With an end to her misery in sight, Casey perked up considerably, and the next two days passed without event. _

_Finally, it was Saturday. She woke up early, and spent an embarrassing amount of time fussing over what to wear. She didn't want to seem like she was trying too hard, but she also wanted to make sure she looked good, to make sure Paul knew exactly how worth it she was. Eventually she settled on some nice jeans, and a soft blue sweater that she knew complemented her eyes wonderfully. She got to the coffee shop a full ten minutes early, but Paul arrived shortly after. As he made his way towards their table, she smiled softly at him, incredibly happy to see him again. She knew, without a doubt, that she loved this man. Though they hadn't spent much time discussing it, she had already started planning their future together. It would be a hard pill for their friends and family to swallow at first, but Casey was sure that everything would work out. They were meant to be together. _

_When he reached the table, she stood up to greet him, giving him a quick but emotional hug, and kissing him powerfully. She was so happy he had decided to come back to her. As they took their seats, she reached across the table and he grasped her hand, the old familiar gesture as comforting as ever. _

"_So," she began excitedly, "got those papers signed?" She smiled at him happily, the rest of the world an unimportant blur around them. _

"_Actually," he said, and her smile faltered a little. "I haven't. And I don't really have plans to do so any time soon," he told her, with only the slightest trace of apology in the words. Casey's jaw dropped, and she stared at him, confused and upset. What was he saying? She didn't understand. Slowly, Paul untangled his hand from hers, and brought it back to his lap. "Casey…I just, I can't do it yet," he said carefully, trying to explain it in a way that she would understand. It was a hard thing to comprehend if you had never been married. "I love you, Casey, I do, but I still love Michelle too. And we have a family together, and it's not something I can let go of just yet. But we agreed when we separated to see other people, so we can still be together," he explained, the words rushing out of his mouth by the end. _

"_What?" was all Casey could ask, incredulous. "How—but—you can't be with me if you're still married to her!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly. Paul frowned, not liking the attention she was attracting. _

"_Sure I can Casey, haven't you been listening to anything I've been saying?" he asked, his tone slightly condescending. _

_Casey shook her head, angry. "No Paul. That's not fair. You can't have us both. You have to choose." She gave him a stony stare, but her lower lip quivered slightly. How could he be doing this? _

"_You're honestly asking me to _choose_?" Paul said, his tone clearly indicating that he though himself above such dilemmas. _

"_Yes," Casey said, trying to keep her voice firm. "I cannot in good conscious have a relationship with someone who is still legally married," she told him, proud that her voice only wavered slightly on the last word. _

"_But you have been, for the last year and a half!" he exclaimed, getting frustrated. _

"_I wasn't aware that I was!" Casey argued, a telling tear managing to escape down her cheek. She rubbed it away furiously, annoyed that it had leaked out. _

"_Casey if you can't handle this like an adult, then I don't know if we can be together," Paul threatened, crossing his arms across his chest. Casey leaned back in her seat, mimicking his actions._

"_Her or me," was all she said. Time clicked by as they stared each other down in silence. _

"_Fine," Paul replied, finally breaking the silence. Coolly, he slid his chair back, and stood, giving Casey one last, hard look before turning and heading out the door. Casey was stunned, but quickly recovered, scrambling out of her seat and out the door after him. _

"_Paul?" she called after him, her voice breaking a little. He turned slowly to face her, his face still carefully arranged in a stoic mask. "I—I don't understand," was all she said, the three words meaning so many things. There was so much she didn't understand right now. _

_Paul sighed, and closed his eyes, shaking his head a little. Opening his eyes, he met her watery gaze, and said simply, "It's over, Casey." With that, he turned on his heel, and continued to walk down the sidewalk, towards his car. _

_Casey stood, staring after him, frozen. She stayed like that for a good while, before finally wandering back to the apartment, in a daze. The words echoed in her mind: It's over. _

The apartment was dead silent as the two step-siblings sat on the floor of the kitchen, mulling over the story, and the events of the past few days. Derek found himself slowly becoming enraged, furious that Paul would do something so terrible to Casey. That man had no right to treat his step-sister like that. His hands were clenched into tight fists, and he was on the verge of standing up and storming out of the apartment to hunt down Paul the Guidance Counselor, Paul the Asshole, and give him a piece of what he deserved. But no sooner had he shifted his weight, than he caught sight of his step-sister's face, which was enough to give him pause.

Casey was staring vacantly at the floor, her mouth drooping in a tiny, pitiful frown. Her blue eyes were swimming with tears, and a few of them silently trickled down her cheeks, splashing quietly onto the tile floor.

Casey had always been a loud crier. She snuffled and sniffled and bawled and blew and honked and hooted and made all kinds of noise. As much as Derek hated tears, he had come to at least be able to kind of deal with Casey's bawling over the years.

But this? This was silent crying. This was heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, just-tears-no-frills crying, and he had never seen Casey cry like that before. He scared him more than he cared to admit, and without even really knowing what he was doing, he suddenly found himself putting his arms around her, pulling her to him, and letting her cry silently into his chest. Awkwardly, he stroked her hair, and just sat with her like that for an undecipherable amount of time.

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**I feel like Paul is really out of character in this chapter, but I'm also figuring he would be a little different outside of his role as a guidance counselor, and especially in a relationship. I hope no one feels like I'm rushing the story of their relationship, but I really dont feel much of a need to spend time detailing the boring little parts of their relationship. There is a lot to come yet in this entire tale, and I want to move things forward. Its more than just Casey recapping her relationship with Paul ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**My apologies beforehand. This is a crappy, blatantly filler chapter. But, it had to be done. For a lot of reasons, some literary and some entirely not. Like the fact that I may be without computer for an indeterminate amount of time soon, and I'm also (to be honest) a little iffy on exactly the where and the how of this story from this point on. I know sketchy details, but I'm having issues actually writing it. If anyone's got suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Or, y'know, whatever. I don't even know if anyone is still reading this, but I'm gonna keep writing it regardless.**

**So painfully obviously not mine.**

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Finally, Casey's tears abated. She pulled back from Derek, and looked around uncomfortably before hastily standing up. Derek watched silently as she quickly busied herself with cleaning up the utter mess she had made of the kitchen. Not a word passed between them, not even a scold for him to get off the floor and out of the way. While Casey scrubbed furiously at the pan the bacon had been in, Derek rousted himself up off the floor, and meandered towards his room.

He stood in the middle of the tiny bedroom for several minutes, before deciding a shower was the best course of action right now. Backtracking out his door and into the hallway, he could hear the faint sounds of Casey in the kitchen, still hard at working cleaning up. The weird little voice that sometimes appeared in his head (he was told it was his 'conscience,' whatever that was) murmured something about helping her, but Derek figured he had done enough for one morning, and proceeded into the shower.

Luckily the noise of the running water drowned out everything else.

When he stepped out of the shower almost a half hour later, the apartment was eerily silent. Derek all but tip-toed into his room, not wanting to disturb the quiet. He dressed quickly—jeans and a tee-shirt—before toweling off his hair and heading back to the bathroom to hang up his towels and do some primping. But when he got there, the door was closed and the hiss of the shower indicated that Casey had decided to take a shower herself. Well, that was a good sign, right? Shrugging to himself, Derek slung his towel over the door handle and headed back out to the kitchen.

It was spotless, of course. It looked practically like it had on the day they had moved in. One thing was for sure, Casey was thorough. Especially when she was upset. It if wasn't such a pain to have her crying all the time, Derek might make it so that she was upset more often. It was nice having things so clean. His chest twinged a little at that thought—guilt? Heartburn?—but he shook off the feeling and began to rummage around for something to eat.

He was shoveling his second bowl of corn pops into his mouth like they were going out of style, a little trickle of milk trailing down his chin, when Casey emerged from her room. It was truthfully, probably the quickest she had ever gotten ready, but it had still been almost an hour. She padded softly into the kitchen, wearing a nice pair of dark-wash jeans and a red Toronto Leafs tee-shirt that, while too big for her normally, was cinched at the waist with a rubber band to make it more form-fitting. Her hair was pulled back in a messy bun, and she had little or no makeup on. Derek's chewing slowed as he studied his step-sister. It was puzzling how she could make such a simple, boring outfit look so damn good. His eyes were captivated by the small sliver of creamy skin that was showing between the waistband of her jeans and the bottom of the tee-shirt. But then the bright red of the shirt drew his eyes upwards and he was even more confused. Since when did Casey have a Leafs tee-shirt? Come to think of it, actually, he had one just like it…

As if reading his mind, Casey blushed and looked down. "I uh, stole another shirt from you. I hope it's alright…"

Derek finally swallowed the fermenting cereal mush that had been sitting in his mouth and wiped his chin with the back of his hand before responding to her. "No, that's fine…no big." It kind of was a big, though. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something made him uneasy about the thought of his step-sister being along in his room, rummaging through his clothes. For the most part, they stayed out of each other's rooms. It was like the unspoken rule that while everything else in the apartment was common area, their rooms were their own personal sanctuaries. Under any semblance of 'normal circumstances,' Derek would have made a big fuss about this. Casey knew it. He could feel her eyeing him curiously as he suddenly found his cereal bowl _very_ interesting, and resumed his earlier shoveling of food into his mouth. After a minute, Casey apparently gave up trying to understand the strange, strange species that was _Derekus stepbrotherus,_ and started rustling around in the kitchen for something to eat as well.

She didn't find anything that seemed to her liking, however, and stood in the middle of the kitchen looking helpless until Derek looked up from his bowl. They just kind of stared wordlessly at each other for several minutes, neither one entirely sure what to say.

One this was for sure, this was the most awkward morning-after he had ever had—and there hadn't even been any sort of hanky panky. Derek did not like this, not one bit. The story of her relationship was finished, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his job wasn't.

"Ummm," he began, looking at some vague point behind her instead of at her face. "How about we go downtown and get us a proper breakfast? There's that great place in the Garden District that serves breakfast all day."

Casey raised an eyebrow. "You just had corn pops," she stated.

Derek waved a hand dismissively, "just an appetizer." Punctuated the statement with a loud belch.

Casey wrinkled her nose in disgust. Derek grinned.

Walking around to the other side of the breakfast bar, he tossed his empty bowl in the sink, and grabbed hisstep-sister by the arm, dragging her towards the door.

"Wait!" Casey shrieked, wrenching her arm from his grasp. "I'll come, alright, geeze, just let me grab a jacket and my purse," she said, trying to sound irritated but failing.

Derek allowed it, grabbing his own jacket off of the chair he had tossed it over the previous evening and scooped his keys off of the counter. A few minutes later, Casey re-emerged, hair now flowing around her shoulders and little bit of makeup enhancing her naturally pretty features. She finally looked almost human again. Without a word, the two left the apartment, Casey using Derek's keys to lock up before tossing them back to him, and headed down the stairs to the tiny parking lot where Derek's car was.

They climbed into the black Jeep he had bought himself (with a lot of help from his parents and the money they got for selling the Prince for parts) last year, and he quickly turned on the engine and whipped the vehicle around, speeding out of the parking lot. Casey gripped the arm rest like it was her lifeline, as always, but she managed to bite back her usual retorts about Derek's horrific driving. In a few short minutes, they pulled into the parking lot at Hanover Place Restaurant—better known as 'Hangover Palace.' Casey had been there a few times before with Derek, but never of her own volition. The place wasn't quite up to her standards of cleanliness—although it was hard to deny how great the food was. They slid into a booth in a back corner, out of the way enough to prevent most accidentally run-ins with people they knew. They didn't have to speak to know that was something that would best be avoided today.

Derek scanned the menu for a few seconds before tossing the dirty plastic sheet back onto the table top. He almost always ordered the same thing, looking over the menu was more an instinctual habit than anything. Casey, however, was reading the menu intently, eyes scrunched up in concentration.

"You know, there isn't going to be a test after the meal, Princess," he drawled with a smirk. Casey's eyes flicked up from the menu text for half a second in order to fix her step-brother with a death glare, before returning her gaze to its previous position.

The waitress, some burnt-out thirty-something sporting hot pink nails, came around and took their drink orders (coffee for Derek, orange juice for Casey). Almost ten more minutes elapsed before Derek lost his patience. With a commanding thwack, he slapped the menu down onto the table, forcing Casey to look at him instead of the menu.

"Alright Case. This is how it's going to go. You are going to order a Belgian waffle, with that strawberry fruit-goo stuff, and a side of fresh fruit," he told her firmly. Casey opened her mouth to protest, but Derek held up a silencing hand and, wonder of wonders, she obeyed. The two stared each other down for a moment, and Casey realized that what Derek had picked out sounded perfect. With a resigned sigh, she sunk back into her seat. When the waitress came around, Derek ordered for them both, and Casey just watched him in stony silence.

A short while later, their food was brought out. Derek dug into his southwestern omelet like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Casey watched in disgusted fascination for a few minutes, before picking up her knife and neatly carving into her luscious, fluffy waffle.

They ate in silence, until Derek had finished his omelet and moved on to the hash browns (Casey was still working on her waffle). He (gasp) stopped eating for a moment and looked up at her. Alarmed by his sudden stopping, Casey looked up, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones with a look of surprise and worry.

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Derek cleared his throat and said, "So, now what."

Casey just continued to stare. Now what, indeed.

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**I google-mapped Toronto and it told me there was an area called the 'Garden District' which sounded cute so I went with it. The restaurant and name etc are entirely my fabrication, though general ambiance is based slightly off of a place near where I live. Again, I'm painfully American so if anything here doesn't jibe with Canadian culture, my apologies. I'm happy to explain anything if you're confused, be it about the scenery or the behavior of the characters. Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Woahhh it was not supposed to take so long for me to update again. Sorry. For some reason I just had to like drag this out of me tooth and nail. But it is two pages longer than a normal chapter! And the ball is really starting to roll. AND I sat down and figured out exactly what is happening with the rest of the story so I know where I'm going, which is good. And I've also started sketching out my next LWD story, which is way premature but the idea came to me one night and I was just like OMG. I'm not gonna tell you what it is and I'm definitely not going to start posting it until I finish with this one, but I'm super excited about it. I dont know how good it's going to be since it's going to be way different than anything I've done before, but we'll see. ANYWAY, here's the next installment of Fallout. And though we wont see him for awhile, don't worry, we haven't seen the last of Paul yet. **

**OH AND LAST THING I just want to gloat about how I TOTALLY CALLED the last meeting of Casey and Paul. Obviously mine was a little more...well, more. But I so called the 'Paul gets up and goes for a handshake and Casey goes for the hug.' Nothing too amazing or noteworthy but it makes me feel good nonetheless. Makes me feel like maybe I at least have some kind of a clue as to who these characters are. **

**Okay, let's get to it. Not mine, of course.**

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As was so often the case, Derek soon regretted opening his mouth. Perhaps it is the taste of food, or maybe just the relaxed, neutral atmosphere of the diner. For whatever reason, Casey suddenly began gushing with things to say, nearly all of them about Paul. She prattled on for over an hour, alternating spasmodically between sorrow and happy nostalgia, anger and—hardest for Derek—adoration and what thinks (fears) might possibly be love.

Normally, he would have put a stop to her babbling a long time ago, but this hadn't exactly been a normal weekend. At any rate, he could sort of tell that this was all sort of therapeutic for her; a necessary release.

Damn those psych classes he took.

Eventually Casey wound down, and the conversation took a more normal turn. They talked about classes, discussed the gossip about their mutual acquaintances, traded news from home and most of all, of course, bickered. It was thankfully a light, playful kind of bickering; not the vicious, war-like battled they used to wage back in high school.

They had now been there almost two and a half hours, and the waitresses were giving them dirty looks, so Derek paid the bill and they left.

The conversation was oddly silent on the drive back to their apartment; it was as if they had run out of neutral things to say to each other. At a red light, Derek chanced a glance over at her. Casey was staring straight ahead out the windshield, a sad faraway look in her eyes. In that moment, Derek decided to keep trying to cheer her up until he either succeeded, or she killed him out of annoyance. If anyone ever asked him, he would never admit it, but the truth was Derek hated seeing her upset.

"Green," she said suddenly, breaking into his thoughts. It took him a moment to get himself together and figure out what she was talking about, and then he stomped on the accelerator, taking them through the intersection and down the street their apartment building was on.

Casey immediately retreated to her room, while Derek sat on the couch, mulling over what his next move would be.

He had been zoned out for nearly an hour when the ring of his cell phone cut through the quiet, jarring him out of his thoughts. Staring at the tiny black device, he realized it had barely rang all weekend, a most unusual occurrence. Finally, almost too late, he returned to life and sprang up to grab it off the coffee table, fumbling to press the 'send' button to pick up the call.

"Hullo?" he said awkwardly, not having checked the caller id first. He hated going into a conversation blind.

"_Yo D! Where you been all weekend? You never called me like you said you would,"_ said the voice of his friend Zander. Derek chuckled at the long-standing joke between them, a reference to all the phone calls from miffed ladies who had been unceremoniously dumped by the two playboys over the years. Derek had met Zander during freshman orientation, and the two had been scarily alike. At first they were a little wary of one another, but they ended up in the same group for an English assignment and soon became fast friends. Zander filled the void in Derek's life that had opened up since Sam was off at school in Nova Scotia. Derek's friendship with Zander was strikingly different than his friendship with Sam, however. Sam had been a nice balance to Derek's personality; the cool, sensitive rationality to Derek's brash, I-don't-give-a-fuck sensibilities. Zander, on the other hand, was exactly like Derek. It made for some interesting adventures.

"I've uh, I've been around. I had to deal with some family stuff," Derek told his friend, not entirely sure of how to explain that he had been spending his time with his step-sister, trying to cheer her up.

"_Step-sister having a meltdown?"_ Zander asked with a chuckle. He knew way too much about the McDonald-Venturi family dynamic than he should. Following Derek and Casey's 'You Stay Out of My Life and I'll Stay Out of Yours' policy, Casey and Zander didn't know each other very well, outside of what they each heard from Derek. And what Zander knew of Casey from Derek was that she was a spazzy keener who definitely would not be interested in someone like Zander. Unfortunately.

"Yeah," Derek replied with an awkward laugh. "So what's up, anything going on tonight?" he asked his friend, trying to change the subject. Normally he would love the opportunity to complain, but for some reason he didn't feel like telling his friend about what was going on with Casey.

Luckily Zander took the bait. "_Yeah man, we're gonna have a poker night over at Mike's,"_ he said excitedly.

"Awesome," answered Derek enthusiastically. "Count me in." There was nothing like a good poker game to get Derek's mind off of things and cheer him up. That thought tickled something in his mind as he stared down the hallway at Casey's closed door. "Hey, do you think it would be okay if I bring someone?" Derek asked suddenly. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wondered what exactly he was doing, but it was too late to take them back now. And after all, Casey needed to get her mind off of things. He might as well keep up the good brother routine until she was fixed or whatever.

"_Uh, probably, who would you bring?"_ Zander asked uncertainly.

"Casey," was all Derek said.

Zander burst out laughing. _"Hah! Good one D. Seriously, who. Because I think Mike already invited all the guys."_

Derek was annoyed, even though it was perfectly logical for Zander to assume he was joking. He and Casey almost never hung out, and hanging out with Derek's friends was unheard of. "I am serious. I want to bring Casey," he said, only barely keeping the irritation out of his voice.

"_Uh, I don't know D, it's just supposed to be the guys, no one is bringing any girls,"_ said his friend uncertainly, confused by Derek's behavior.

"Casey isn't a girl, she's my step-sister," Derek said matter-of-factly.

"_Fair point," _Zander responded with an uncomfortable laugh. _"Yeah, alright, go ahead and bring her I guess,"_ he said, clearly just wanting to end this conversation already.

"Cool. See you then," said Derek, and ended the call.

Looking at the clock, Derek saw they still had a lot of time before they would have to leave for Mike's. Stifling a yawn, he got off the couch and wandered down to his room, and collapsed onto his bed for a nice nap.

Several hours later, Derek was again roused by the smell of food. Thankfully this time it wasn't burning.

Wandering into the kitchen, Derek was greeted by Casey stirring a pot of spaghetti. The clock on the microwave read 5:30.

Casey turned around. "Eating at such an awkward time earlier kind of made the rest of the eating schedule awkward, so I decided now would be a good time to eat again," she explained, before turning back around to attend to the sauce that was simmering away on the stove next to the pasta.

Absently scratching his head, Derek grunted in agreement. "Yeah, we have plans tonight anyway so it's probably just as well," he told her. Casey's head whipped back around so fast, he momentarily felt like he was watching _The Exorcist_.

"We? What do you mean, _we_," she demanded, eyes flashing suspicion.

"Woah, calm down Medusa," he said, putting his hands up in front of him in a weak defense. "I just figured you needed to get out of the house, so I made some plans for us," he told her, trying to calm her down. He wasn't sure why he wasn't explaining what exactly the plans were, but he was worried Casey might not agree to go if she knew exactly where they were going. And girls like surprises anyway, right?

Casey scowled for a minute, knowing he had a good point but not wanting to admit it. "Well, what if I already have plans for tonight?" she challenged. Derek simply raised an eyebrow.

"Do you?" he asked. Step-sister and step-brother stared each other down for a minute until Casey crumpled.

"No," she admitted, defeated.

"Then there you go," replied Derek smugly. "If anything, you should be thanking me."

Casey just rolled her eyes and went to drain the pasta. Taking two bowls out of the cabinet, she spooned out a helping of pasta and sauce into the top one, and handed the empty one to Derek before walking out of the kitchen and over to the table.

They ate in silence, and once they had finished, Derek carried all the dished into the sink and left them in a big pile for Casey to clean, before flopping onto the couch and flicking on the sports channel. Not having the energy to argue with him, Casey just sighed heavily before getting to work on the stack of dishes.

By the time all that was finished, they had about forty-five minutes until they had to leave. Casey headed towards her room to get changed but paused halfway.

"Where are we going?" she asked Derek, a little surprised that she hadn't thought to ask a long time ago.

"It's a surprise," Derek deadpanned.

"Der-_ek_." No response. Sighing, she rolled her eyes. "Can you at least give me some kind of idea as to what I should wear?"

"Uh, just jeans and like a shirt, or whatever," Derek answered with a shrug. How helpful.

Forty minutes later, and Casey still hadn't emerged from her room.

"Case!" Derek yelled, annoyed. "We have to _go!_"

She yelled some sort of muffled reply that Derek didn't catch, and five minutes later she finally appeared.

Derek would never admit it, but his breath caught in his throat a little as he took in the vision that was his step-sister. Casey had apparently decided she could wear her clothes again, and she was wearing them _good_. She had on flattering, dark-rinse jeans, a pretty red top that was loose and yet somehow managed to still accentuate her every curve, and shiny black pumps. Her make-up was flawless, and her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders.

She was not doing a very good job of being "his step-sister, not a girl."

He had half a mind to tell her to go change into something less….hot, but they were already going to be late.

"Alright let's go," he said in a rush, leaping off the couch and grabbing his keys. Casey barely managed to grab her purse and jacket as he ushered her out the door.

Casey looked around suspiciously as they pulled up in front of Mike's house. Derek could see from the cars on the street that most if not all of the guys were already here. He hoped they hadn't started without him.

"This better not be a party Derek I really am not in the mood—" Casey began, but Derek cut her off abruptly.

"Casey, does it look like a party?" Aside from the cars on the street, there was nothing that even hinted at a party anywhere. She didn't answer.

Derek parked the car, and led Casey up to the front door. He let himself in the front door and made his way to the living room, where the table was all set up for the poker game. The guys were milling between the kitchen and the living room, with a few of them already seated and ready to play. Most of them didn't even look up as they greeted Derek, but as Casey stepped over the threshold into the room, every single head snapped up to attention. Irritation flashed across Derek's face; what, had they never seen a girl before?

"Guys, you know my step-sister," he said, as a way of dismissal. But in fact, most of them didn't know Casey. They knew she existed, but they had never before encountered her. From Derek's descriptions and stories, they had created a mental image of some sort of uber-nerd. But now they were seeing that Casey was nothing like the greasy dorkette they had pictured, and the contrast was startling.

Derek wished she'd come in sweats or something instead.

Casey looked like a deer in the headlights, staring wide-eyed at the guys staring at her. She was clearly uncomfortable with all the male attention, but as she realized the meaning of the round table, decks of cards, and stacks of chips she quickly transitioned into outrage.

"A _poker game?!_" she cried, incensed. She whirled towards Derek, hair bouncing around her and eyes flashing. "You brought me to a _poker game?_" she asked, the old fiery anger building back up inside of her.

Derek ran a hand nervously through his hair. She had a point; what the hell had he been thinking? He didn't even think Casey knew how to play poker. It startled him, really, how out of touch he was with Casey. He remembered when he knew every last thing about her and her personality. But even though they still lived together, things were so different now that it seemed like their closeness was waning and he was losing his grip on his stepsister.

His reverie of thought was soon interrupted by the realization that he had to deal with a Very Angry Casey and he had to deal with her fast.

"Case, have you ever even played poker? You might like it. And besides it's something to do and it's getting you out of the house and getting your mind off of…you know," he breathed out in a rush, trying to make her see he actually had put a little thought into this, despite how it might look. He finished up his statement with a sheepish grin and a hapless little shrug, knowing full well just how hard it was for girls to stay mad at him when he pulled that. Granted, Casey wasn't really a 'girl,' at least not in his world, but he hoped that she had enough of those extra-x-chromosome, Derek-loving girly cells floating around in her body for it to at least have some effect.

It must have worked, because Casey's angry expression softened into something kinder and more understanding—though still tinged with annoyance. This _was_ Casey we were talking about after all.

"Fine," she said with a sigh, settling herself into a chair at the table. "Get me a beer and teach me how to play." Derek grinned and ran off to grab her beer—light of course, he still knew her well enough to know that—and didn't even complain about being bossed around.

* * *

**Don't get used to chapters this long, by the way. It was just awkward for breaking it up; the first good breaking point would have left us with waaayy too short of a chapter. **

**Hopefully the next one wont be so long in coming, but feel free to kick me if it is. If anyone is still reading this, that is. Thanks guys!  
**


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